Slack adjuster



' W. H. SAUVAGE A SLACK ADJUSTER Filed Nov. 25 1921 Patented May l, 1923.

narran sri-iras i risata? raraarorrrca.

WILLIAM H. sAUvAeEL or NEW YORK, N. Y., AssreNoa, BY Masinijass1c{1\r1an1\jr rs,l To GoULD ooUPLnP. COMPANY,4 or NEW YoRK, yN. Y. j

. snack ADJUSTER.'

Application filed November 25, 1921. Serial No..517,630.

To ali whom it mc/,v/ concern: j

Be it known that I, VViLLmM H.V SAUVAGE, citizen of the United States, residing at Newl York, in the county of New Yorkand vState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack Adjusters, of

which the following is a. specification.

Thisinvention relates to improvements in slack adjusters and more particularly to a slack adjuster complete in itself and applicable to brake rigging of railway cars and particularly to truck brake rigging incorporated with the brake beam strut. j

The invention will accordingly be hereinafter describedfwith relation to such ap-A plication although .it is to be understood that wihout material modification various feal tures are applicable to other installations.

One of the objects of thev present invention is to provide a-'simple and'v practical slack adjuster as an independentV unit, which may be readily installed and applied to ytruck brake rigging now in use without material modification. A further object is to provide an auto'- rnatic slack adjuster that doest notl interfere with any of the natural gravitation laws of the present brake ope-ration and onev which will permit in every case a perfect freedom for the hanGers attached to the brake beams to go into full released position due to the angularity of the hangers and the weightof the levers, beams, brake shoe and brake shoe heads.

A further object is to providea slack adjuster of the above general type which will, of course, ensure uniform positive travel at allA times, provide the proper brake shoe clearance as well as one which*` will bey reli able, durable and eiiicient under all conditions. l j

Other objects Willbe in partvobvious and in part hereinafter pointed out. A

The invention accordingly consists inthe kits upper end at theV point 8 a features of construction,the combination of" will, asabove stated, bel-hereinafter described i l 1n its relation kor application to; the 'truck brake rigging, it1s,rof course, applicable to,`

other partsof the foundation brake rigging;

and

Figure 2 view. y y a Referring now to the drawings in detail, 5 denotesy a livelever preferablym'ade yin two parts, riveted at-6 and bifurcated at itslower end?, as shown more clearly `in Figure 2.. This live lever has pivotally connected at pull rod 10 connected with any suitable source of power for applying the brakesj'the live leverlis guided in its movement by a guide bar 11 of well known construction. The lower end of the livelever has pivotallyconnected therewith` at the point 12a push rod 13, the

is a detailed transverse sectional lopposite end of which is pivotally connected atill with the lower end 'of thejd'eadlever 15, the upper end of thefdead-lever. being adjustably connected to ,a fixed bracket 16. Y

The slack'adjuster mechanism vor unit is preferably directly .associated with the brake beam construction and there is indicated at 1.7 the transverse portion of the brake beam and at 18 the rectangular vshaped tension member, which connects the ends ofthe brake beam and isseparated from the parts 17 'by means of a strut 2O preferably in the form of a round steel bar. The vbifurcated `portion of the live lever carries a dog housing member 2l having the bifurcated and within the housing are a pluralityv or dogs23 having holes through their .central parts with hardened edges and through which the'rod 2O passes, as well,- of course.` as throughvthe ends of thedog housing'meniber trunnions 22 passing through' portion, as sho-wn in lfigure 2,

2l.v IThese dogs are normally held in canted position by means of. a coiled spring 2li` wherebythey have a bitingengagement with theA rod 20. )It will thus be seen thatas the brakes are applied these dogs ywill grip the rod 20 and urge the brake beamtoward thel left to apply thebrakes.y v i yliounted upon this vsamerod is asecon'd dog housing 25containing onefor morevdogs 26 of the same general type as the dogs y23...

and held in canted position by means ofia,VVV

spring 27.` The lower pai-tof `this dog'h'ious-yy ingis providedwithitwo holes 28 through which the take up rod 30 is adapted to pass;

This rod 30 isA pivotally ,connected at the wheels.

point 3l with the live lever between the trunnions 22 and the pivot point l2 and the opposite end is threaded to receive lock nuts 32 spaced apart from the side wall of the dog housing 25, a distance equal to the desired predetermined lost motion for permitting brake shoe clearance 33.

I ln operation, when the live lever moves towards the left in the direction of the arrow, pivoting on the trunnions 22, the lower end of the live lever moves towards tne right and through the bottom rod i3 coacts with the dead lever l5 to carry the brake shoes into engagement with the peripheries of the Should the normal movement ol the live. lever exceed the lost motion provided `for by the lock nuts 32 and indicated at 33, the take up boi; or dog housing 25 will be moved along the rod 2O against the action of a coiled spring 34k interposed between the two dog housings and place this spring under compression to the extent oftl excess movement oi the live lever. @n release of the brakes, this spring 34e, being under compression, vill force the main dog housing or permanent take up and holding device 2l relativelyvv towards the right to the same extent that the spring was compressed during the application of the brakes, and the adjustment ot' the nuts 32 can be made to suit the travel required tor the live lever in order to maintain predetermined piston travel. T his progression ot the temporary and permanent take up and holding means represented by the dog housings 2l` and 25, continues until the brake shoes are entirely worn out. Then, in order to release the adjuster, an operator inserts a rod with projections thereon into the dog housings so as to trip the dogs in both housings and move the same to a position at right angles to the axis of the rod 20, the entire mechanism then may bel moved bodily to-` ward the lett until they reach the position shown in Figure l. Then, on the first application of the brakes, the entire truck brake rigging will be automatically adjusted to the proper position to insure the desired brake shoe clearance and uniform piston travel thereafter.

lt will thus be seen from the above that the present invention provides a simple and practical slack adjuster, complete in itselif.v and one which. does not require or depend in any way upon release springs to properly return to normal position onrelease ot the brake. T he entire mechanism may be easilyy and quickly substituted tor other equipment or applied to truck brake construction now in general use without material modification. The live lever with its associated parts may be manufactured and assembled and all that is required 1s to connect the opposite ends o'l the live lever to the pull rod lOand the bottom rody 13.

As many changes can be made in the above construction and many apparently widely diilerent embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrated and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. In a. slack adjuster', in combination, a bifurcated live lever, a permanent take up and holding means trunnioned inthe bifurcated portion of the live lever, a brake beam having a strut associated with said permanent takeup and holding means, and means for progressively moving said take upand holding means along said strut as the brake shoe or wheel wear occurs, to thereby insure uniform piston travel and brake shoe clearance.

2. In an automatic slack adjuster in combination, a brate beam having a tension member, a strut interposed between the beam and tension member, a live lever having a biturcated portion enclosing said strut, and permanent and temporary take up and holding means mounted `upon the strut and associated with the live lever, one of said means being operative on application otl the brakes to temporarily take up the slack and operate upon the other of said means to permanently take up the slack on release of the brakes.

3. In an automatic slack adjuster, in coinbination, a brake beam having a tension member, a. strut interposed lbetween the beam and tension member, a live lever having a biturcated portion enclosing said strut, and permanent and temporary take `up and holding means mounted upon the strut and associated with the live lever, one of said means being operative on application of the brakes to temporarily take up the slack and operate upon the other of said means to permanently take up the slack on release of the brakes, said temporary take up means including a housing and a spring actuated dog therein, coacting with the strut.

4l. ln an automatic slackadjuster, in combination, a brake beam having a .tension member, a strut interposed between the beam and tension member, a live lever having a bifureated portion enclosing `said strut, and permanent and temporary take up andllOlding` means mounted upon the strut ,and ,associated with the live lever, one of said means being operative on application of the brakes to temporarily take upthe slack and operate upon the other ot said means to permanently take up the slack on release of the brakes, said permanent take up and l'olding meansincluding a housing anda plurality of. dogs therein coacting with' said' strut.

l (ll) manently take up the slack on release of thebrakes, said temporary and permanent take up and holding means including a housing, a dog coacting with the strut, and a. spring holding the dog in canted relation whereby it is freely moved in one direction relatively to the strut to hold it against movement in the opposite direction.

6. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever having a bifurcated portion, permanent take up and holding means interposed in the bifurcated portion of said lever, a rod passing through said holding means, a temporary take up and holding means mounted upon said rod, and a spring interposed between said two holding means.

7. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever having a bifurcated portion, means interposed in the biturcated portion of said lever, a rod passing through said holding means, a temporary take up and holdingl means mounted upon said rod, a spring interposed between said two holding means, and a link interposed between the live lever and the housing of the temporary take up and holding means adapted to move said temporary take up and holding means i when said live leverexceeds its predetermined travel.

8. In an automatic slack adjuster, in coinbination, a live `lever having a bifurcated portion, permanent take up and holding means interposed in the bi'iircatedportion of said lever, a`V rod passing through said holding means, a temporary takeup and holding means mounted upon said rod, a spring interposed between said two holdin means, and a link interposed between the live lever and the housing of the temporary take up and holding means adapted to move said temporary take up and holding means when said live lever exceeds its predetermined travel, said spring interposed between said temporary and permanent take up and holding` means being adapted tc be compressed on said excess movement.

9. In an automatic slack adjuster, in conibination, a bifurcated live lever, a rod passing through said live lever adapted to be associated with the brake beam, temporary take up and holding means mounted upon said rod, a link connecting said means with permanent take up andl holding` saidlive lever formoving said lmeansv along said rod on excess travel, a spring vadapted to be compressed during applicationo thev brakes when excess travel 'occu`rs, and means actuated by vsaid spring on release of the brakes orpermanently ytaking up and hold,-l ing the excess travel.

10. In an automatic slack adjuster, .incom'' bination, a biurcated live lever, a rod pass- 1f temporary l take -up and holding means mounteduponingthrough said live lever adapted to be associated with the brakebeam,

said rod,`a link connecting said means withV said live ylever for moving said means along,`

said rod on excess travel, a spring adapted brakes when excesstravel occurs,

so 'A to becompressed during'applicationfo'fthey and mean-sg actuated-by said spring on release1 ofv the brakes for permanently t'aking'up fand'hold-j" ing theexcess travel., saidxlast means in cluding'y a housing mountedy upon said rod between the biurcated portion-of; said` l live 'j lever "having holding dogs .coasting With said rod. 4 l j 1l. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a bifurcated live lever; a vrod passing through said xlive lever: adapted to be* associated with the brake beam, temporary take up and vholding means mounted upon I' said rod, a link connecting vsaidmeans with said live lever vfor moving 'said means. alongr said rod on excess travel, a spring)` adapted i application of the 'vf occurs, and means to be compressed during brakes when' excess travel actuated by said spring-.onreleasefof the 10o, brakes for permanently taking Vup and hold!` ing the excess travel, said lastl means in` 'I cluding a housing'mounted upon said rod between the bifurcated portionofdsaid live lever, having holding `dogs coacting-withV bination, a bifurcated livelever, a rod'pas'ssaid rod, a link connecting saidk means with said live lever for moving said to be compressed brakes when excess` travel occurs, and means actuatedy by said spring on release o-fthe brakes for periiian'entlyl taking up and hold-. l

ing the excess travel,said last means in cluding a housingmounted upon said rod means along g said rod on excess travel, a spring adapted l during 'application of the lac between the bifurcated portion' of sai'dlive lever, having holding' mining the ldistance said livey lever shall travel before said 'slack into operation.

i dogscoacting with. said rod, and adjusting means for deteradjuster means goes In testimony whereof I atlix my'signature.y j"

WILLIAM isi. sauvaen. Y

105 said rod, and means forregulating the brake i a shoe clearance.; j

12. In an yautomaticslack adjuster, in com? 

